The Hill Allows a Clinton Crony to Lie About Climate Change Tearing Our Nation Apart
By
H. Sterling Burnett
August 1, 2025
The boogeyman of climate change.
The Hill posted an opinion piece by William S. Becker titled, “Climate denial is tearing our nation apart — we can’t wait much longer to act,” in which Becker asserts climate change is leading to both worsening weather and worsening politics. Becker is wrong on both counts. Polling consistently shows that although most people believe climate change is happening, the number very worried about it hasn’t changed much over the past few decades, and very few people are willing to sacrifice much in an attempt to reduce future climate change – so there is no evidence whatsoever climate “denial” threatens to rend the political fabric of the nation. In addition, data clearly prove Becker is simply wrong about worsening extreme weather.
“We know from decades of scientific research, and now from brutal experience, that global climate change is real,” writes William S. Becker, former U.S. Department of Energy official who founded its Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development under then President Bill Clinton. “Few, if any, places in the U.S. are safe from its many consequences. They are as quick as flash floods and as slow as rising seas, but they are undeniably real and growing worse.”
“One result is personal and society-wide cognitive dissonance — the mental and emotional discomfort we feel when our actions clash with reality or beliefs. a recent Gallup poll shows that 63 percent of Americans believe global warming is underway, and that 48 percent — a record — believe it will seriously threaten their way of life,” Becker continues. “Yet more Americans are moving into places with high risks of climate-related disasters rather than out of them.”
Becker is wrong, there is no cognitive dissonance in peoples’ positions, but rather it reflects a rational assessment of the relative importance of climate change as a threat to their lives and well-being when compared to other issues, like the economy, jobs, health care, education, crime, and illegal immigration.
https://climaterealism.com/2025/08/the-hill-allows-a-clinton-crony-to-lie-about-climate-change-tearing-our-nation-apart/
